Nation/World Briefs

September 29, 2006

NATIONAL BRIEFING

Spinach bags in Wisconsin linked to outbreak of E. coli

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Two bags of spinach collected from E. coli patients in Wisconsin are linked to the national outbreak of the disease, state health officials said. The match of the Dole brand baby spinach was confirmed by DNA testing, the state Department of Health and Family Services said Wednesday. Four other bags of the Dole spinach -- found in Utah, New Mexico and Pennsylvania -- have also been linked to the E. coli strain. Each was processed during the same shift on Aug. 15 at a Natural Selection Foods plant in San Juan Bautista, Calif. Inspectors seeking the source of the E. coli outbreak are looking at the Natural Selections plant and nine California farms that supplied it with fresh spinach. NATIONAL BRIEFING

Two priests suspected in theft of millions from parish funds

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Two Roman Catholic priests stole millions in offerings and gifts made to their parish over several years, authorities said Thursday. Monsignor John Skehan, who was pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church for four decades, was arrested Wednesday night on charges that he and the Rev. Francis Guinan stole $8.6 million from the church, using the money to buy property and other assets, investigators said. The 79-year-old priest was arrested at Palm Beach International Airport as he returned from Ireland and was being held on $400,000 bond on grand theft charges. Guinan, who succeeded Skehan three years ago, has disappeared and was being sought, authorities said. He is alleged to have stolen an unspecified amount of money to take gambling trips to Las Vegas and the Bahamas. Guinan had an "intimate relationship" with a former bookkeeper at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, where he'd previously worked, according to a police report. NATIONAL BRIEFING

Court lets father teach child about his beliefs on polygamy

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A father may teach his young daughter about his religious belief in polygamy despite his ex-wife's objections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Thursday. The 5-1 decision by the state's highest court said Stanley M. Shepp has a constitutional right to express his beliefs about plural marriages and multiple wives even though bigamy is illegal. Shepp considers himself a fundamentalist Mormon, though the Mormon church officially renounces polygamy. The girl's mother, Tracey L. Roberts, testified that Shepp's interest in polygamy broke up their marriage, and expressed concern that he may introduce the girl to men in preparation for marriage at age 13, according to the court opinion. Roberts and Shepp have joint legal custody of the girl, who is now 13. INTERNATIONAL BRIEFING

Lawyer: Smith accepts view of private report on son's death

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith believes a pathologist's conclusion that her son died from an accidental lethal combination of drugs shows he didn't commit suicide and hopes that others will learn from the tragedy, a lawyer said Thursday. An American examiner hired by the family, Cyril Wecht, said 20-year-old Daniel Smith had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas. Low levels of the three drugs interacted to cause an accidental death, Wecht said. "At least she knows the attacks on her son's reputation can be put to rest because it's clear he didn't intentionally take his life," said Wayne Munroe, a Bahamian attorney for the 38-year-old reality TV star and former Playboy Playmate. Smith, who gave birth to a daughter three days before her son died at her bedside, is awaiting the conclusions of Wecht and the Bahamas pathologist who performed a separate official autopsy, Munroe said.